Director turned Producer Ravindra Gautam who has set up many successful TV shows is happy and excited to be part of the success story of the popular Sony LIV series Maharani 2. Gautam was the new Director who got on board for the second season of the series.
In a candid and exclusive chat with IWMBuzz.com, Ravindra Gautam shares his thoughts on the series and much more.
Excerpts:
Maharani 2 and the subsequent season have been extremely successful. Describe the journey of your association with this series?
It was an exploration. It was a learning and a challenge as the writing was superb and the first season was already a rage. Apart from me, the whole unit was from the 1st season. But kudos to the producers, not even once did I feel alone. It was like I know everyone for ages. They personally saw to the well-being of every member including workers. This was heartwarming.
Maharani certainly proves that content is king, and it is not always the names and the star cast that pulls in masses. What is your take on this?
I am so thankful to the OTT for making everyone, especially makers, realise the importance of content, be it any medium. Writing is the most important foundation of any good series or film and Maharani has proved it.
How is it to associate with Naren Kumar and the SonyLIV team for Maharani?
Naren is a very dear friend and we were looking forward to working together for the last many years. Finally, it happened with Maharani. He is a dream producer to have. He understands creative aspects very well and his sole aim is to make a fab product. This is my first web series and I am thankful to the SonyLIV team, creator Mr. Subhash Kapoor, and producers Narendra and Dimple for believing in me. Though in the past I have delivered many successful shows for SonyTV, I was under pressure about how would my first on SonyLIV perform. Thankfully people appreciated it and it is doing exceptionally well.
You are not seen nowadays in the TV circuit. Why is it so?
I am very thankful to TV for giving me so much success and love and as a Producer. I am still pitching, but as a creative talent I wanted to explore roads less travelled, so moved on to directing web and films.
How is it working on the web when compared to TV?
It is much more satisfying as a director. TV’s sheer volume, budget constraints and telecast deadlines create many limitations as a creative while on the web, you get a lot of ground to play on. I always take a lot of pre-production time to soak into the soul of the subject, so while on TV I only used to set up shows before the telecast starts. On the web, I am able to enjoy the whole series.
What are your plans for the near future as Director?
As a director, I will be more focused on doing stuff that I’ve not done, like web series and films.